Pursuing Miss Hall by Karen Thornell
Chapter Two
Nathan followed Meg as she and her mother entered the drawing room. His curiosity was certainly piqued, though knowing Lady Hall, her glee might have been derived from something as simple as a changing of the upholstery on the drawing room furniture. Perhaps that was why she wished for Nathan’s help. The frivolous woman often mistook him for a common laborer, despite his being a gentleman.
Granted, a gentleman of far less means than the Halls but a gentleman nonetheless.
He took a chair near Meg’s, and she smiled at him. The dimple just to the left of her mouth never ceased to set his heart to pounding. He attempted a few surreptitious breaths to calm it. It didn’t work. Belligerent organ.
Lady Hall placed her hands in her lap with a great deal of poise for someone who had nearly dragged them from the study. Her eyebrows were high with anticipation.
“Margaret. Darling, darling Margaret. Your father has finally determined to see to my greatest desires. He has finally relented after weeks of begging. He has finally agreed . . .” She looked between the two of them, brows high and mouth lifted in excitement, “to hold a house party!”
Nathan furrowed his brows, and he saw a similar expression begin to appear on Meg’s face before she brightened and returned her mother’s smile, ever conscious of others’ feelings. “How wonderful for you, Mama! When will you host this gathering?”
“Not me, my dear—you! Your father has agreed to this party on your behalf!”
Meg’s confused look returned, and Nathan was sure his expression matched hers again. But despite his lack of understanding, apprehension filled his chest.
“I am afraid I do not understand, Mama. What do you mean?”
Lady Hall placed her hand atop Meg’s. She was nearly bouncing with joy as she surveyed her daughter, not seeming aware of the rigidity of Meg’s shoulders or the slight line between her brows. “I mean that we wish to give back some of what that horrid illness took from you. We cannot take you to London, not even for the little Season; your lungs could not yet handle the air. But we can give you a chance at securing a wonderful match! I do not know what possessed us to delay your first Season, and then to have you become so terribly ill . . . well, we cannot wait any longer. You may well be deemed a spinster—nearly twenty! And so, we have invited a handful of well-connected families with young, marriageable sons, even a viscount, and they have all accepted! Is this not the greatest news? Just imagine, you could be married by summer’s end!”
Meg appeared dumbfounded, though she tried to cover it with a smile. Nathan could do no such thing.
“Married?” he choked out. Both women looked at him as if they had forgotten he was there, and he cleared his throat. “Certainly you do not wish for her to be married just yet? She is only nineteen!”
Lady Hall assumed a rather haughty expression. “I was married at eighteen, Mr. Blake.”
Nathan stamped down his incredulity with an apologetic shake of the head. “Yes, of course. Forgive me, Lady Hall. Er, what did you need my assistance with?”
Lady Hall’s face softened, and she resumed her near-bouncing. “Oh yes! Mr. Blake, I am hopeful you will join us for our activities. Our numbers as they stand are uneven, and naturally, I thought you would be a wonderful addition. Your parents as well, of course! Truthfully, it would be helpful to have a man about to entertain the other young ladies whilst Meg comes to know the gentlemen we have invited.” Lady Hall beamed as if she had devised an absolutely brilliant plan. Undoubtedly, in her mind, she had.
Nathan swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Of course. I would be delighted.” He would certainly not be delighted.
“Wonderful, wonderful!” She clapped her hands together.
Nathan fought an internal battle, wherein one side battled to remain there in Meg’s company and the other told him to flee and regroup.
The cowardly side won. He stood, straightening his waistcoat and silently disagreeing with Lady Hall. There was not a single thing wonderful about this scheme at all.
“I am certain you have a great deal of planning to do, so I will leave you ladies to it. Please call on my mother should you require any help. She would be overjoyed to assist you, I am sure.” He bowed to them both. Lady Hall graciously inclined her head, but Meg eyed him from her spot on the couch.
He attempted to send her a reassuring smile. It felt more like a tight twitch, but it was the most he could manage. Spinning on his heel, he strode from the room and the house, refusing the butler’s offer to call for his mount. Nathan needed the extra exercise just now and would fetch the horse himself.
His hands formed into tight balls as he marched around the grand estate house and down to the stables.
Married. The word bounced around his head like the tolling of a bell. Meg could not get married. The rest of the blasted ton could do as they wished with their ridiculous marriage mart and snatching of high-ranking lords and ladies—but not Meg.
She had hardly recovered, and now her parents wished to throw an onslaught of eligible gentlemen at her? His breathing came faster—half from exertion, half from frustration. He hadn’t had enough time. Meg was his best friend. She had been for years. But he had been attempting—admittedly, not very effectively—to be more than that. Yet fate had determined to make a fool of him, snatching away what little time he’d thought he would have. How could he manage to elevate their friendship when she was being courted by half a dozen men? She was perfect, utterly perfect, and it would not take long for those other men to realize it and wish to make her their own.
The thought twisted his gut painfully.
Meg wasn’t supposed to marry any of them. He didn’t care who they were because he already knew they were not good enough for her.
Nathan reached his horse—his father’s horse, really. Yet another mark of the gulf of status and wealth between himself and Meg, whose father’s stables were near-bursting. He thanked the stablehand who had fed and watered the animal and swung into the saddle. He had hardly left the stableyard before he had the stallion in a full-out run.
He was under no illusions that he was any better than those other men who would be vying for Meg’s hand. But Nathan loved her despite her total blindness to that fact. How could he ever allow her to marry another when she would be taking his heart with her? How could he watch as she married a man who would not strive to care for and protect her as he would?
Bending low over Cavallo, the wind biting his face and making it difficult to keep his eyes open, he made a decision. He would not let her go without a fight. Meg needed someone who would recognize her worth, it was true, but more than that, she needed someone who would put her first always, since she would never put herself ahead of anyone. She needed someone who would make her laugh when she was sad and listen when she needed to be heard. And he needed to be that man. He would attend the house party of the baronet and his wife as requested. But he would be just as much a suitor as any of the other gentlemen there.
He urged Cavallo even faster, finding the exertion was the only way to calm his racing thoughts. Wind whipped at his face, both numbing him and bringing him to life. It was quite likely he would fail. He may even lose Meg’s friendship, which was arguably the most treasured relationship in his life, but he had to try. Because if he succeeded, Meg would be married by summer’s end.
To him.